Devastated Australian MotoGP star Jack Miller has accepted an apology from Spaniard Alex Marquez after crashing out of his home grand prix on the corner newly renamed in his honour.
The local favourite was taken out of Sunday's Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island by the Honda rider on lap eight.
Miller came flying off his Ducati when Marquez smashed into him from behind, with the incident immediately ending the race for both riders.
Before Miller's post-race press briefing, Marquez came into the media centre to say sorry to the luckless 27-year-old.
For causing the crash, Marquez was penalised with a long lap penalty to be served during next week's race in Malaysia.
"We're all out there trying to do our best, I understand he might have got a little bit carried away trying to get past (Luca) Marini," Miller said.
"We've all made mistakes; I think he's as devastated as I am not to be finishing the race.
"First home grand prix after three years is definitely not the way I wanted to finish it."
After qualifying eighth, Miller made a blistering start to move through the pack to be as high as third place.
But the Townsville product's hopes of a first home MotoGP win, and any slim title aspirations, came to an abrupt end not even a third of the way through the race.
In a cruel twist of irony, Miller was taken out on turn four, 24 hours after the corner was named after him during a special ceremony.
"I was at Miller Corner, mid-corner, just about to release the brakes and get on the gas and I got a front-wheel to the middle of my spine," Miller said.
"Not much I could really do about that. One minute I'm looking at the back of (Marco) Bezzecchi's bike and the next minute I was seeing stars.
"I got pretty winded, felt alright, just a bit bruised."
Though the incident wasn't his fault, Miller still said he felt sorry for the parochial fans who cheered him on during the first MotoGP race at the island since 2019.
"A lot of people, not only my family, have travelled far and wide to see an Aussie do good and you kind of feel like you let them down," he said.
"It's devastating but it's part of motorcycle racing."
Fellow Australian Remy Gardner finished 15th in what could be his only MotoGP race at Phillip Island as the 24-year-old moves to the World Superbike Series next year.
It was the first time two Australian MotoGP riders have raced at Phillip Island since Casey Stoner and Chris Vermeulen in 2007
